Religion
Pantheons Deities are often grouped into pantheons, where people practise polytheism and offer worship and tribute to many gods at once, however, it is common for worshippers to concentrate on one deity above others, also known as their patron deity - this often relates to their profession or current needs. Halcanni Pantheon The Halcanni Pantheon is the most dominant and most notable pantheon, it is unique that it crosses geographical and cultural boundaries, incorporatating deities from other pantheons into its worship, often in conjunction with the subjugation of people into the Damerian Republic and its de jure successor the Phoenix Empire. Integrated Pantheons Neighbouring deities were often integrated into the Halcanni Pantheon, often being different names or avatars of pre-existing deities. *Elven Pantheon *Cannorian Pantheon *Escanni Pantheon *Gerudian Pantheon *Sarhali Pantheon *Bulwari Pantheon *Dwarven Pantheon Crossover Pantheons The Halcanni Pantheon often links itself with other existing pantheons which often feature in their Halcanni Creation Myth, more often than not these crossover pantheons become enemies and foes to the Halcanni Pantheon. *Bestial Deities *Harimari Pantheon *Cyranvari Commune Enemy Pantheons Afteer the Godswar many deities of the pantheon was banished for following Agrados against his brother Castellos, the head of the Halcanni Pantheon, these traitor gods and their draconic servants were cast into The Underworld and became the Dukes of Hell, progenitors of devils and demons. Afterlife: Become a servant in your patron dety's domain, become a soldier in the Eternal War to atone or go to hell? Bestial Deities Not so much as a grouping or alliance of gods but more a broad definition of deities worshipped by bestial races like gnolls, harpies and also the harmiarians above. The bestial deities have one thing in common, they share a place in the Halcanni Creation Myth as the Spawn of Agrados, creatures born from Agrados' rape of Halanna and emerged from her corpse at the end of the Godswar. These deities often keep to themselves and sometimes have allied with gods of the Halcanni Pantheon, however they all share one enemy, the Halcanni/Cyranvari goddess of the hunt, Falah, who was entrusted by Castellos to hunt down the Spawn of Agrados. *Harimar the First, progenitor of the tigerfolk harimarians and chief god of the Harimarian Pantheon *Grilax the Savage, progentior of the gnolls and enslaved by the genies *Firanya the Graceful, progenitor of the harpies and mother to the Harpy High Matriarchs *Dolumir the Trickster/Singer, progenitor of the satyrs as well as being part of the Cyranvari Commune *Vukar the Changer, progenitor of werecreatures *Nazthi the Wise, progenitor of the Nazthiri serpent people *Siramod the Strong, progenitor of minotaurs Afterlife: Become a god? Servant? Harimari Pantheon The Harimari Pantheon were the gods of the Halessi tiger people known as the harimarians, the pantheon is named after Harimar who they see as a messiah-like figure who led his people to discover the High Gods purpose for them and establish the short-lived Empire of Harimar. After the Schism of Fenli the harimari were split into two theological of schools of thought on what the high gods' purpose was, the Way of the Fang believes that the world must be converted at any means necessary and the Way of the Paw believes that the world must be shown the true way but must decide for itself. Both schools believe that the High Gods will soon return in The Xuanzar where they will determine the fate of the world, the Way of the Fang believes that the world must be converted to be saved while the Way of the Paw believes that that goal is impossible and the world will be destroyed no matter what, they believe that those who follow their Way will be saved by the High Gods and taken to a new Iantanga (Paradise). Afterlife: World dies, you go to Paradise (Chronicler's Note: Modern historians agree that the Harimari Pantheon actually emerged when the harimarians were evolved by The Ruin of Halwes, and that their "High Gods" are none other than the precursors and the elven deities subject in the precursor temples of Haless. '' ''Conversely, the idea of departed deities returning is a major factor in the Regent Court and its offshoots which some academics suggest originated from the harimarians; their returning High Gods draws parallels to the precursors leaving during the Reflective Decree. -J) Dwarven Pantheon The Dwarven Pantheon were the gods who helped Halanna craft the world as well as driving the dragons of halwes to near extinction, the dwarven pantheon bore many resembelances to the Gerudian which in turn was an extension of the Giant's Titan Worship. Afterlife: Become a servant in the dwarven paradise Titan Worship Titan Worship was the worship of the immortal first 100 children of Halanna, the Titans. Much of their number died during the Godswar and worship has since faded, Titan Worship continues on as the origin of the Gerudian Pantheon. Afterlife: Join Titan's in Valhalla or somethong (Chronicler's Note: Modern academics agree that the titans in the Gerudian Pantheon were in fact ordinary ice giants who masqueraded themselves are being descendants of their gods. -J) Primordial Cult The Primordial Cult was the primarily followed by the genies and their kingdoms, the cult mostly focused worship on the primordials of fire, air and water, Dra'xos, Aesanna and Uelos respectively, though in its early days the giants worshipped Halanna as a part of the cult before she decreed they follow the titans. Afterlife: Rebirth? You're immortal bruh Ancestor Worship Ancestor Worship arose during times of troubles when the gods had seemingly abandoned their people, the most notable cases being the Elven Ancestral Guardians and Dwarven Forebears. Ancestrial Guardians The Ancestrial Guardians arose during The Great Wander where they believed that their elven ancestors would watch over them, in this religion, each elf would choose an item to imbue their soul into once they died, their descendants would then be able to use their ancestral artifact to communicate and recieve guidance and protection. Afterlife: Become a stick or something (Chronicler's Note: This religion probably had roots in the idea that each item and person was sacred during The Great Wander, the elves had no way to get new resources and heavily relied on transmutation to turn existing items to something else. -J) Dwarven Forebears Dwarven Forebears also arose in a time of crisis, when the dwarven holds lost contact with each other and were isolated by the orcs during the Dwaravorik Wars, these forebears were often great heroes that lead by example and creators of new dwarven clans. Afterlife: Become an ancestor? Monotheistic Religions The idea of monotheism has only risen to popularity recently, monotheism is belief in existence of one god or in the oneness of God. Bulwari Sun Cult The Bulwari Sun Cult took prominence when the bulwari people lost their immorality in 1000 BL (which most scholars contribute to The Ruin of Halwes). The Bulwari believed this was the final sign that the gods had abandoned them or died except for Castellos' firstborn son Sura'el, who was known for his avatar Venaan, who freed the precursor elves. Sura'el again helped free his people and sacrificed himself in exchange for the freedom of the bulwari slaves under the Genie Sultanates, also known as The Dissipation. It is said that when his chosen people unite the world he will return and lead the fight against the The Great Dark who was responsible for the Day of Ashen Sky, finally ending the Eternal War. The Cult believes that Sura'el is the only existing god left and that all other gods are pretenders made from the dark energies from Day of Ashen Sky. The Bulwari Sun Cult forms the basis of elven superiority, believing that one can only be chosen if they have full elven blood, it is also one of the two religions to subscribe to the idea of chosen people, in this case, Sura'el's people: the elves. Afterlife: Good souls strengthen Sura'el's light, bad souls are obviously corrupted by the darkness and make it stronger The Regent Court The Regent Court was a religion that arose in Cannor shortly after the end of the Phoenix Empire, the Regent Court was originally a Cannorian sect Bulwari Sun Cult but believed that the idea of chosen people lay with magical ability, not elven blood. The Regent Court soon eclipsed the Halcanni Pantheon by introducing the tenet of a higher True God and that the gods of the pantheon (the "Court") were his servants, with Castellos being the regent of the heavens (explaining why the gods cannot enter the earth) and those with magical blood were the regents of the earth. The Court believes that the True God left to test his servants and that once the mages unify the world he will return and lead it to victory against the demons in the Eternal War. It is due to the beliefs of The Court that The Empire arose in Cannor and held power for centuries until the Age of Unraveling the Regent Court saw multiple offshoots and schisms. Afterlife: Good souls become part of the court, sinful souls can atone by serving as soldiers in the Eternal War, bad souls become demonic slaves. Ravelian The Ravelian Faith was the most prominent of the reformed Regent Court offshoots, the Ravelians believed that the mages had lied and twisted the True God's words, they believe that the True God said that the mages were to help the world as its stewards and champons, not its rulers. This belief also extended to the gods of the Halcanni Pantheon, whose flawed attitudes and actions suggested that they too failed to follow the True God, believing that the Inheritance War and the dragon's victory over the pantheon was the True God's way of punishing them, some extreme notions even believe that the pantheon were killed in the war. The Ravelianists believe that once the world The Ravelian Church decentralized the Empire and its divine right to rule, promoting non-magical rulers which saw mass appeal to the commonfolk, eventually leading to early antimagist notions as well as a series of wars and the Blackpowder Rebellion which toppled the magocratic rule of the Empire once and for all. Afterlife: Good souls go to heaven, bad souls go to hell. Veridicalist The Veridcalist Faith was a sect of the main Ravelian Church that believed that there was more to the True God's words than previously thought, they focus on research